5 players to watch ahead of Sacramento-Las Vegas 51s series
With the Sacramento River Cats coming to town for a four-game series against the 51s, here are five players to keep an eye on:
Jarrett Parker
Parker, a 6’4” lefty outfielder, is the team’s ninth-ranked prospect per Baseball America and the highest to begin the season with the River Cats.
Parker is a power hitter who strikes out his fair share. In 21 games with the Giants last year, he hit six home runs in 49 at-bats. He also struck out 21 times. In 124 games with the River Cats last season, Parker hit .283/.375/.514 with 23 home runs and 74 runs driven in.
Should the Giants need another outfielder this year, expect him to be one of the first that goes.
Mac Williamson
Like Parker, Williamson is also considered another potential call-up candidate and was one of the last players reassigned to minor league camp.
Williamson, a third round pick in the 2012 draft, got his feet wet with the Giants last season as a September call up. He split time between Double-A Richmond and Sacramento, hitting .275/.368/.433 with 123 hits in 123 games.
Gabriel Ynoa
After consecutive rainouts, the 51s are hoping Monday is the day Ynoa finally makes his Triple-A debut. Ynoa was supposed to start on Saturday and then Sunday before getting pushed back to Monday.
Though his velocity isn’t at the same level of some of the recent pitchers to make their way through the Mets’ system — it’s said to sit in the low 90s and occasionally hit around 94-95 — Ynoa was listed as a “sleeper prospect” by MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo a season ago.
Ynoa who also has a changeup and slider in his arsenal, finished last season at Double-A Binghamton 9-9 with a 3.90 ERA in 152 1/3 innings.
Ricky Romero
Romero, who will oppose Ynoa in the first game of the series, was a Major League all-star just five years back.
Romero finished 2011 with Toronto 15 wins and a 2.92 ERA in 225 innings. But during his time in the majors, Romero struggled with his control. In 2012, he led the league with 105 walks.
Romero hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2013 and it doesn’t appear like he will anytime soon, but still provides some intrigue as a former Major Leaguer who, at one point, was one of the game’s bright young starters.
Sean Gilmartin
Like Ynoa, Gilmartin will make his first start of the season during this series.
After spending last season as a reliever with the Mets, it will be interesting to see how Gilmartin adapts back to starting. In 50 games last season, Gilmartin posted a 2.67 ERA in 57 1/3 innings pitched.
The former first round pick posted a 3.71 ERA in 145 2/3 innings between two levels in the Minnesota Twins’ system in 2014, his last full season as a starter.
